Hey-o :D

GuardianDragon98 here with another chapter for HTTYD2! My mind's been bursting with so many ideas that I can't completely write down right away but I'm planning on a new story along with my updates to Dragons: Riders and Defenders of Berk and HTTYD2. I'm gonna start typing it on December 1 and I hope to post the first few chapters before the end of the year

Eitherway, enjoy this update and feel free to read and review.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own HTTYD, HTTYD2, the series or anything HTTYD-related here. All rights go to DreamWorks Animation, Cressida Cowell, Dean DeBlois and all respective owners.

Chapter 10: A Reunion and An Escape

Zenna's POV

The very next morning, Hiccup and I got ready to head out. Hiccup still wanted to go talk to Drago and I couldn't really persuade him to do something else so I just decided to confer to his good judgement…and basically just follow him into foreseeable danger. Stryka and Toothless were busy taking naps when the baby Scuttleclaws came in, wanting to play.

"Well, bud, we can't wait around for Drago to find this place. We've gotta find him first." Hiccup said, determined, as he folded up his flight suit's wings. "I still think that this might be unsafe, Hicc. But, you do have a point. We can't let Drago find the Sanctuary." I said in agreement, readying my supplies. Toothless and Stryka were now growling at the Scuttleclaws to shoo them off. Two rather rambunctious ones, however, decided to chew on their tails!

"Alright, you two. Shoo now!" I chided the babies, waving them off while Toothless and Stryka growled at them, peeved. Hiccup smiled and then said, "Let's go!"

Suddenly two meaty hands covered our mouths! Hiccup and I both tried to scream for help but the hands muffled them out. Toothless and Stryka quickly got into protective positions but, then, the four of us realized that it was Stoick!

"Easy now." Stoick commanded them both. "Are you kidding me? How'd you get in here?" Hiccup asked him, shocked and worried. In response, Stoick handed him his riding helmet and gave me my shield. "You had Skullcrusher track us down?" I asked nervously as I strapped it onto Stryka's saddle, with more ropes to secure it.

"The same way we're getting you two out." Stoick told Hiccup and then nodded to my question. "We?" Hiccup and I both asked, confused. Then I thought of my parents.

'Oh Thor, they better not be here! Mom's pregnant for crying out loud!' I thought, beginning to panic. That's when we noticed Gobber, hiding in the tunnel's arch. "All clear!" he waved to Stoick. "Toothless, Stryka, come." Stoick commanded our two Night Furies and followed Gobber into the tunnel. Hiccup and I had no choice but to follow. But then, I managed to get them all to stop.

"Hold on! Stoick, Gobber…are my parents with you two as well?" I asked loudly. "Of course not, Zenna! It's too dangerous for your mother. And your father also has to take care of her." Gobber shook his head. "I got them to return to Berk. Don't worry, Zenna, they're both safe." Stoick told me. "Thank you Odin!" I breathed out in relief.

That's when I remembered something extremely important along with Hiccup.

'Auntie Valka! Stoick! Holy Shields!' I thought as I gave Hiccup a nervous look. He immediately got the message. "Dad! There's something you need to know!" he called after his father as we crept through the narrow passageways. "Yeah, yeah, tell me on the way." Stoick said dismissively. "Sir, this is kind of something that cannot really be…fully explained along the way." I piped up as I ducked to avoid banging my head on a rock.

"This isn't an on-the-way kind of update, actually…" Hiccup continued to say as we went on. "I've heard enough, Hiccup and Zenna." Stoick grunted as he squeezed through. "…more of the earth-shattering development variety." Hiccup continued while I chimed in with, "This news will probably…give you something akin to a heart attack but don't worry. I know how to do CPR so you'll be fine after you find out…"

Okay, not exactly a good way to try and explain to your Chief that his long thought-to-be-dead wife has actually been alive all along but hey! Hiccup and I were getting pretty desperate since we were fast approaching the area where we knew Valka was right now!

"Yeah, just add it to the pile." Stoick told us. "Dad, unlike most surprises I spring on you-this one you'll like. I promise. You just have to handle it delicately." Hiccup said, even more frantic as we neared the tunnel's end! "He's right, Chief. You just need to keep an open mind." I added, just as we bumped into Gobber. When he turned to face us, Hiccup and I didn't even need to ask.

He had seen her.

"Ah, you might want to take this one." He mumbled before plopping down onto a chunk of ice, looking winded. "Oh boy…" our two-limbed blacksmith friend breathed out, reeling from shock. Then Stoick got the wrong idea and drew his sword! "Uh, Chief, violence isn't really needed here!" I squeaked worriedly. "Oh, Dad, put the sword away please." Hiccup pleaded with his father. Stoick ignored us and went in to take a look.

A gasp came from him once he, along with me and Hiccup, saw Valka with the dragons.

'Da-da-da, here it comes…' I thought as me, Gobber and Hiccup came out from behind Stoick, who had dropped his sword. I looked up at my Chief and could see pure shock, amazement and confusion written on his face as he quickly took off his helmet. Valka stood straight and tall, with a somewhat terrified expression on her face. But who could blame her? For all we knew, Stoick might very well be enraged at all of this. I mean, he thought his wife had been gone for 20 years and now he knew that it wasn't true! In such cases, anger would be the most common way to react.

"I know what you're going to say, Stoick. How could I have done this? Stayed away all these years and why haven't I come back to you? To our son?" she asked. Stoick could only stare at her, dumbstruck. "Well, what sign did I have that you could change? That anyone on Berk could? I pleaded so many times to stop the fighting, to find another answer, but did any of you listen?" she continued as Stoick began to walk over to her.

"This is why I never married, this and one other reason." Gobber mumbled to us. Hiccup and I could only give him quizzical looks while anxiously watching the events unfolding in front of us now. Then and there, I saw that Valka was a whole lot like Hiccup. She tried to do things different and nobody had really seen her way as good. She was like Hiccup before…different.

I suddenly felt Hiccup grab my hand and squeeze it. I glanced at him and I saw that he was extremely worried. I knew what he was afraid of: that his father would get mad at his mother and his family won't be really reunited.

Valka was now fearfully backing away as Stoick advanced. "I know I left you to raise Hiccup alone but I thought he'd be better off without me. And I was wrong, I see that now but…" she said as she backed up to an ice wall.

My heart was pounding and so was Hiccup's.

What now…?

"Oh, stop being so stoic, Stoick. Go on, shout, scream, say something!" At Valka's words, my heart broke once more. Oh Thor, please don't let the same thing I had gone through with Eret happen to Hiccup's parents.

Then, we all heard Stoick whisper…

"You're as beautiful as the day I lost you…"

Hiccup released my hand and we both breathed out huge sighs of relief. We then saw Valka drop her staff…as she and her husband shared a sweet, sweet kiss.

"Wow…better than my own reunion…" I muttered to myself, feeling a slight pang of envy. They've been husband and wife and had probably had more than one kiss. Me? I'm not even sure if I'll ever have a second one!

But I pushed those thoughts aside once I saw how happy Hiccup was. A small tear of joy slid down his cheek and he had the biggest grin on his face. He must've dreamt of this moment for so many years and, now, it was finally real.

His family was reunited…

Eret's POV

We'd been in our prison for one hour, which gave me enough time to pick up on the names of Astrid's friends.

The black haired short guy with a Monstrous Nightmare named Hookfang was called Snotlout. The chubby blond Rider was Fishlegs and his dragon was the Gronckle, Meatlug. And the Twins that shared a Hideous Zippleback named Barf and Belch, were Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Tuffnut's the boy and Ruffnut…is the freaky girl.

I had just memorized all those strange and embarrassing names when Drago's men came to get us. Our punishment? Walk the plank, the most cliché way to die on a ship.

"Could this day get any worse?" I heard Snotlout complain as one of the soldiers shoved me forward onto the edge of the ship. "Ah, let me check…we're going to jump into freezing cold water and, then, die from drowning." Tuffnut replied sarcastically. My brain was going into overdrive as I figured out a way to escape. Now that I knew that Drago had just been using me as a pawn, there was no way I was going to let him get to the Dragon Rider's nest, destroy it, take down the Alpha Bewilderbeast, go to Berk in order to lay siege to it…and lay a finger on Zenna.

"Looks refreshing." I quipped before turning around to look at Astrid. "Please, ladies first." I told her in mock courtesy. She, on the other hand, did not look amused. But she didn't know that I already had a plan to bust us out of here. "You are a steaming heap of dragon-" she managed to say to me before I put my plan into action.

"Duck!" I whispered to her urgently. She, thankfully, obeyed and that gave me the opportunity to roundhouse kick the soldiers unconscious! One of the spears sailed through the air and I expertly caught it with my hands literally tied behind my back, before using it to free myself.

"Warn the others!" the soldiers yelled as the chaos began. "Get 'em, you son of an Eret!" Ruffnut cheered me on. I gladly obliged in giving her and her friends a demonstration of my fighting skills. I knocked the soldiers' weapons out of their hands and used them to take the men down. One soldier tried to escape but I quickly grabbed a dart launcher and sent one into his neck. He tottered one, two, three steps before passing out just inches away from the captain's quarters.

Eret, Son of Eret - 1, Drago and his soldiers - 0.

'The boys back in the South would be damn proud…' I thought, smiling proudly as I assisted Astrid and her friends.

"Okay, I love you again." Ruffnut told me, making me roll my eyes. "Ah, pathetic, you can still jump." Tuffnut then said to Snotlout, who looked crestfallen. I had to admit that a lot of girls have swooned over me. But…I only had eyes for one lady my whole life. And, right now, I need to find her.

"So, are we going to save your dragons and get out of here or not?" I asked Astrid, smirking slightly. She just smiled coolly, impressed. "Check every trap, they're here somewhere." I instructed the Dragon Riders as I cut Tuffnut's ropes. "We need to split up. We'll cover more ground that way." Fishlegs suggested. Almost instantly, Ruffnut latched onto my arm. "I'm going with him!" she all but squealed, her brother shushing her up.

I saw Fishlegs and Snotlout visibly get upset while Astrid just smiled mischievously. Oh, if this was her idea of getting back at me for everything, real mature!

"Let's go!" she said and we all split up.

Let me tell you, having Ruffnut as a partner…is almost equivalent to Drago's torture. She just kept staring at me with a look that was similar to a predator hungrily stalking its prey and whenever I tried to have a normal conversation with her, she'd just keep staring at me. Honestly she's pretty shallow when it comes to falling in love, in my opinion.

But I had to admit she was quick in learning how to disable the traps and assisted me in checking every one until we found Stormfly's. I quickly got to work cranking to open the Nadder trap while Ruffnut kept watch.

"Anyone coming?" I grunted, speeding up a little to save some time. "I don't know. You just keep doing what you're doing…That's right…keep cranking…" she just said dreamily, eyeing my arms and not even bothering to look over her shoulder for trouble!

'Thor Almighty, how can Zenna be friends with someone as cuckoo as her?' I thought as I got the trap to open and climbed into it.

Stormfly was completely trussed up and she looked up at me as I approached her. My heart was beating so hard, I was afraid it'd jump out of my chest. As grateful as I was to her, I still felt nervous. How was I supposed to approach her when I'd been trying to capture her all this time?

Carefully I held out my hand and took a few steps towards her. All the while Stormfly kept her eyes locked on me and stayed calm. Finally, my hand hovered over her muzzle. Taking a deep breath, I said to her, "Thank you for saving my life."

Stormfly then gently nosed her muzzle into my palm. I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of awe and relief. I'd wrangled dragons for almost 11 years and I almost forgot about how amazing they were…If this was how Zenna met her dragon, Stryka, words could not express the sheer amazement of it all. I felt like Stormfly and I had a bond. Sure she was Astrid's dragon, but it really felt like it.

"Now, let me return the favor." I told her, drawing my sword and using it to cut her free from the ropes. Once she was free, Stormfly crooned and gave me a playful nudge. "You're welcome, Stormfly." I smiled as we got out. Ruffnut grinned once we landed. "Alright, now let's get your Zippleback." I told Ruffnut who tried to hug me. Luckily Stormfly stepped in with a warning growl. Again, I found myself thanking her.

The three of us ran about, looking for Barf and Belch. At one point, I decided to take a chance and ask Ruffnut a question. "So, you're a friend of Hiccup and Zenna's?" I asked cautiously. "Yeah." Ruffnut said, sounding normal-ish for once. "And they're really close?" I asked, wondering if Zenna really had found someone else now. "You rarely see one without the other. They're practically brother and sister." Ruffnut answered.

We were still running when I skidded to a stop once I heard the words 'brother and sister'. Hold on, what did that mean?

"Wait…so…Hiccup's…not Zenna's boyfriend?" I asked Ruffnut slowly. "No. Hiccup is Astrid's boyfriend." Ruffnut told me. Oh gods, I now felt like a first-class idiot. I could practically feel my face grow hot with embarrassment. Stormfly must have noticed because she gave me a confused warble and licked my face! Ruffnut, on the other hand, looked passive.

"Gods, I am so stupid…" I muttered to myself. "Nah, it's okay. Back when Zenna was suffering from depression, a lot of people thought that she and Hiccup were a couple." Ruffnut shrugged. I raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. "What does Zenna's depression have to do with her and Hiccup? And since when did Zenna get depressed? She's usually always so cheerful." I said in shock. Ruffnut looked thoughtful for a few minutes before she finally got her thoughts organized.

"Well, when Elias died in a dragon raid eight years ago…Zen completely lost it. She was still there, but it was like she wasn't there at the same time. She didn't talk, didn't smile, laugh…she just stayed away from all of us and isolated herself. Losing Eli…it broke her." She began. I then felt a whole 12 years' worth of guilt. Elias died when he was only thirteen…thirteen! And I wasn't there for Zenna when she needed me most…Elias was her big brother, her role model and idol. She looked up to him. As for me, Eli had always been one of my best trainees. And he was a really good friend, despite our age-gap. We were even like brothers!

"We all tried to cheer her up. But no one tried harder than Hiccup. He was always there for her during those times. And at one point, Zen's depression got so bad that she had to move in with Gothi, our healer, for a little while. Hiccup immediately begged his Dad to let him move in with her. When Stoick allowed him, Hiccup he…well, he basically became like Elias. He officially became Zenna's surrogate brother." Ruffnut continued, putting emphasis on her last sentence.

"Why did Zenna have to move in with the healer? Couldn't her parents have taken care of her?" I asked, confused. "She needed to be closely watched. From what I remember, I heard rumors that Zenna had snuck out of the house one night in order to try committing suicide." Ruffnut told me.

I swear I nearly had a heart attack when I heard that last part.

"She tried to do what?!" I nearly screamed in shock. "She tried to…" Ruffnut began to repeat dumbly before I cut her off. "I was asking a rhetorical question!" I exclaimed, trying not to freak myself out. Odin, was Zenna really that depressed? I was now feeling complete guilt at this point. "But it-it's okay! Hiccup saved her before it was too late. And then, he made sure to always stay by her side and took care of her. When everyone gave up, including Zenna herself, Hiccup didn't and watched over Zenna as if she were really his sister." Ruffnut said quickly, calming me down slightly. Once I calmed a bit, I felt a deep sense of gratitude towards Hiccup. When I wasn't there to comfort Zenna, he was with her the whole time and took care of her…Remind me to pledge loyalty to him when he becomes Chief of Berk!

"Zenna got better soon after that. And ever since then, she's made it her life's vow to always have Hiccup's back. And…I'll be honest with you, Eret. Hiccup wasn't always my friend. To tell you the truth, me, Tuff, Snotface, 'Legs and Astrid? We wouldn't even so much as notice Hiccup when we were growing up! He was still, well, a hiccup, a runt. If we ever noticed him, it was to pick on him or beat him up. But Elias and Zenna? The three of them became, like, instant best friends the very day Zenna and her family moved in. They did everything together…they took care of each other. And like I said before, they always had each other's backs." Ruffnut concluded.

I was silent for a couple of minutes to process all this new information. All this time I had it all wrong! Yes, I saw that Hiccup and Zenna loved each other very much but I failed to see that it wasn't romantic love! It was the kind of love I had seen in Elias for Zenna…it was the love of a brother for his sister…It was love for family…

Finally I looked at Ruffnut and gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Ruffnut. For helping me out." I told her gratefully. "You're very much welcome, Eret, Son of Eret." She replied, the familiar love struck look coming back. Cautiously backing away and making sure that Stormfly was between me and her, I hurried on ahead to get the dragons freed.

I just hoped that we were gonna make it in time to stop Drago and his crazy schemes!

What do u guys think? Please read and review. Pretty please with chocolate and strawberries on top? (I then nod to Stryka who gives you guys the puppy dog eye look :D)